


Tell Me the Truth

by AppleL0V3R



Series: Moments in Time: A Close Up [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Implied Abduction, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-22 00:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3708699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppleL0V3R/pseuds/AppleL0V3R
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>16 Lies: Tell Me the Truth. Lying wasn't part of the job description. But love wasn’t either.</p>
<p>Moment in Time Drabble:<br/>“You’re lying.”</p>
<p>Why’d he have to make this so damn hard? “No, I’m not.” She wished it were true.</p>
<p>Sable eyes that were almost blue stared at her intently. She never had been able to lie, not really. But never could she lie to him, not because she didn’t want to but because he’d always call her on it. He’d let so many slide, not once demanding the truth. This one though, he wouldn’t. He held on tenaciously.</p>
<p>She knew she shouldn’t want him to, but seeing his eyes so dark and intense, it’d be long before she broke. He was the master of breaking people; it made sense that someone like her wouldn’t be an exception. She had been, but… </p>
<p>“I don’t love you.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tell Me the Truth

“What did you learn at school to day, Angel?”

A six year-old pinkette tilted her head, “Mama, I thought lying was wrong.”

She blinked down at her daughter. “Well, yes, honey it is.”

“But the teacher said we have to.”

Already? The young mother thought to herself with dismay. They were already teaching them to lie. Sighing, she bent down until she was at eye level with her precious only child. “There is a difference between ‘have to’ and ‘right’.” When all she got was a confused face she tried for a different angle, “You want to be a shinobi right?”

She nodded earnestly.

“Well, part of that is that you won’t always do good things. Lying, for instance. That doesn’t make them right, but they are necessary so that you can do what you’re told. Understand?”

She watched as her daughter thought about it, could almost see the gears turning in the intelligent girls mind. Before finally: “So it’s bad, but sometimes can’t be helped.”

Sometimes, having an above average smart daughter was a good thing. With a smile she nodded. “That’s right. And you shouldn’t do it unless you have no other choice alright.”

“What if, I’m told to?”

Again the mother sighed, “Well, honey, then it can’t be helped. But promise you’ll always know when its wrong and you’ll lie as little as possible.”

“Find a balance?”

“Yes. Find a balance.”

The young girl nodded happily now that her confusion had been cleared up.

* * *

 

When she first met him, truly met him – not just seeing him fight her teammates, but getting closer to fight him herself – nothing went the way she thought it would. And perhaps it would have gone differently had it just been her who ran into him, but that wasn’t the case. No, she’d run into him with her team.

It had been accidental, the five of them been returning home from a particularly long and tiring mission when they happened upon him. Just him. His partner or any of the other Akatsuki members hadn’t been in the vicinity as near as they could tell.

At first he hadn’t seemed all too interested in a fight, and that had been more than fine with her. They weren’t at their best and as the previous battle they’d had with him had shown, even a person made to look and seem like him could still hold his own pretty damn well against them. And they had been ready for him then. The only reason he’d lost was because he’d never intended to win. The suna nin had been nothing more than a decoy.

So while taking the defense, they decided to let him pass unanimously. She’d assumed he’d caught that intention and so had begun to move away without truly turning his back to them. Then at the last second, he’d grabbed her. Her world went black then, as she realized he had knocked her out and was kidnapping her.

The last thought she’d had before unconsciousness claimed her had been a stark, ‘arrogant bastard.’

* * *

 

When she’d woken she’d found herself in cottage, small and devoid of anything except the necessities, but it was homey all the same. He’d been waiting against the wall across the room. Before she could help it she found herself irritated with the fact that he’d managed to get her away from her team. It was nearly impossible not yell at him for it, too. But she was experienced enough to know that he was dangerous and anything she did would only put her further in harms way.

“You’re awake.” He acknowledged, his intense gaze set on her. She refused to meet his eyes, she knew better than that.

She nodded once curtly. Too furious to do anything more and trust herself to stay in control. Which meant talking was out of the question for the time being.

“You’re also irritated.” She snorted inwardly, biting her tongue in an effort to swallow the sarcastic remark that had jumped to her lips. “But you would not have come if given the choice, would you have.”

She shook her head, still refusing to even so much as turn in his direction. At least her bangs provided a sort of shielding in that he couldn’t see her whole face. She didn’t know how long she could stay carefully blank especially when she was so angry.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him nod once. “I thought not. I require your assistance.”

Her mouth was open and moving before she could help herself. “And what makes me so special?” Her tone was clipped and biting.

“You are the best healer in all five nations.”

Again her voice was working before she could stop it. A mirthless bark of laughter had ripped from her throat, “Oh? And you really think, kidnapped or not, I’m going to help you?” She had to suppress her urge to ask what was wrong, whether she intended to help or not. And she definitely did not want to do that.

“That is your choice. I merely chose not to pass up the chance as it was presented to me.”

It made sense to her; if the situations were reversed she was pretty sure she would have done the same. She sighed and finally glanced at him. “What’s wrong?” She hated how softhearted she could be sometimes; it was a hindering trait for a shinobi. Yet no matter how many times she tried she’d never been able to kick that particular part of herself.

“Do you intend to help?”

She paused, did she? Would she? There were very few conditions outside her realm of abilities, so that wouldn’t be a problem. “Depends on what it is.” If it was small she knew he wouldn’t have bothered to go through the trouble to take her. No matter how renowned he was, if there was a problem that didn’t require intensive care or stay he could go to a hospital just about anywhere except the major villages.

He pushed off the wall then, padding closer with practiced ease. He didn’t stop until he was right beside her seated position on the bed. “My vision is gone.”

She blinked, she should have expected that. After all, she’d studied what the sharingan did to the user after extended periods of time. Kakashi had even agreed to be her lab rat of sorts on occasion. She could fix it she knew, and she was also well aware that both practice and expertise were required when dealing with such situations. Healing the eyes was hard enough, chakra ones were worse by tenfold.

She could feel herself slipping into her medical persona already, the irritation being replaced by it. Quickly she halted it before it did damage. She’d learned that her capacity for anger was one of the few things that kept her on track and acted as a good shield for when her heart was wavering. Or her mind as she considered helping him.

Him. A criminal that had caused so many problems for nearly all the shinobi villages as well as personal grief for her. What the hell was she thinking?

“Okay. Is there anything else?”

This time the silence sat differently and she knew immediately that there was. But since he didn’t seem inclined to say anything of it she wasn’t going to press.

So she stayed silent for a moment, deliberating. Would giving him his sight back change anything? Clearly, he’d been getting around without even the higher ranking shinobi of any village to even so much as make note of it. Now that she thought about it though, he’d been steadily keeping out of affairs with most of the villages, no real sightings of him within the last few months either.

She scooted over and turned to face him, beckoning him to sit down. Slowly, he did so but stayed at the very edge, which was more than she’d expected. “How long have you been blind?”

“More than three years.”

Which just solidified her thoughts, giving him his vision back wouldn’t change anything. But at the same time three years was a whole hell of a lot of damage especially since he still had the sharingan activated. She shifted slightly readying herself to stay still for quite a while. “I’ll check the damage; make sure I _can_ heal your eyes first.”

“You intend to.” There was a slight questioning in the statement.

She nodded, “It’s not going to make a difference to me anyway.” She snorted softly, “Three years and no one even speculated.”

The slightest hints of surprise crossed his countenance. “Not even speculation?”

The roseate shrugged. “Well, we have no idea where Sasuke is and there was no way to be sure if the deterioration in Kakashi’s eye was normal or because it was transplanted.”

“And you were able to fix it?”

Again she nodded, pink hair moving slightly, “Yes, but he wasn’t blind when I did. Now come closer.”

He conceded, inching forward and pulling one leg up to help support his weight. He also turned slightly before settling into his position. She rolled her eyes; closer didn’t mean all of three inches. But it was understandable; with how agreeable she was being he was taking a large risk by letting her so close. There was no way for him to know for sure if she intended to help and only help. So she moved forward still having to lean over when she brought both hands up and slowly placed two fingers to each temple.

Being so close forced her to be at his eye level, to look at his eyes. They were bloody with little black tomoe, “Would you deactivate your sharingan, please?”

There was a brief pause and for a moment she thought he wouldn’t. But then the tomoe grew, engulfing his eye color until it was a dull black-like sable and since she was so close she could see the slivers of a pretty blue in them. Breathtaking eyes, really and she had to force herself to pay attention. Medic mode fully kicking in she told him what she intended to do, “I’m going to check the damage, see if there is anything I can do.”

And then she pushed small strands of her chakra through the points where their skin touched and to his eyes. She was right; his eyes had diminished so greatly that it wasn’t just his retinas anymore. The small veins connected to his eyeball were thinner than they should have been as if all the chakra had shaved away parts of them or even compressed them to make room.

She pulled her energy back out the way she’d pushed it through, even more carefully than she had inserted it. Then she withdrew her hands and leaned back. “There is a lot of damage, more than I had originally anticipated.”

He waited quietly, as if prepared for the worst. That she couldn’t. And honestly, she could still say that but that would be lying because she had the feeling that though it would take a while and a lot of spread out long sessions, she could do it. Besides, he’d probably see right through her lie anyway. She clasped her hands in her lap, “Your over usage of your kekkie genkai has caused even your veins to suffer. It will take a while _if_ it’s salvageable, probably a week or so. I hope you really don’t mind my company because were going to be around each other a lot if I’m going to try to fix your eyes.”

Black eyes stared at her and she felt like he was seeing right through her to her very soul. And perhaps since he was blind he could. Finally he nodded. “If that is what it is required.”

* * *

 

So over the next week they spent at least six to seven hours at that same close range. It had gotten to the point where he didn’t mind laying with his head in her lap, eyes closed and sleeping as she worked. Sometimes they spoke; sometimes it was just her babbling about a story that had resulted from a question he’d asked.

Somewhere along the way it had occurred to her that not only did she have a good portion of his trust, but she also held leverage over him. Surprisingly though, she didn’t have the urge to use that to her advantage. She could exploit him, she should. But she didn’t want to. And though she’d tried to analyze this fact all it did was make her more confused.

After this whole thing was over, she would have nothing to do with him, she decided. It was the best way to go before she got herself into deeper trouble than this decision of hers already was.

It was hard not to get attached, he’d proved to be hard to hate for her. If he’d never committed the crimes he did, perhaps they would have gotten along pretty well. But there was no relation that could exist between them; just her helping him and that was all.

Still, with all the time they’d been spending together it was hard not to bond with him. She knew so much about him now, had even bothered to ask about the night of the massacre. She knew the truth, it didn’t change facts or justify anything but she’d wanted to know his perspective of it. Talking with him felt like speaking with a very close long time friend. Easy, natural. But it felt like more than that, and that scared her.

It was only one week anyway, if there was anything there then she was deluding herself into thinking so. True or not, it was the best thing for her heart. Only way to safeguard it.

* * *

 

The end of the healing period had come faster than she’d wanted it to, having finished in eight days.

She stretched after pulling away. “Mmkay, done. No more damage left.”

Black eyes appeared behind closed eyelids. He’d been steadily getting his vision back as she worked and every time it felt like a treat – more than any favor could ever satisfy – to watch each time as he looked around with improved vision.

This time though, she didn’t get to see him look around in wonder and appreciation. Didn’t get to watch quietly, aware that he knew she was doing so but not really caring. This time when he sat up, he kept his gaze solely on her and not for the first time she thought about how she was probably one of the few to see the true color of his eyes so much recently. In fact she’d been so enraptured by his gaze, just like always, that she hadn’t had time to react when he leaned forward and kissed her.

She froze on the spot. It was little more than feather light and his lips were soft and gentle as they pressed against hers. She couldn’t help but love the feel of it, couldn’t help want to reciprocate it. She wondered if she was the only one to ever be so close to this usually distant and cold person. He had so many barriers that she was surprised he’d let them drop as much as they had around her.

He was sticking his neck out by doing this, she knew. Because Itachi wasn’t the type of person to do anything without a good reason. And since he was kissing her it was only logical that it meant he felt something for her.

Part of her wanted to stay like that, so close to him. It felt so…right. But it was wrong and she knew it. Not because it showed any form of disloyalty but because it couldn’t go anywhere. This kind of relationship would be doomed from the start and would only break her heart in the end. It’d taken so long to heal after Sasuke, and she didn’t want to go through the process again. She couldn’t.

So she pulled away, turning her head to the side. “Don’t. This won’t go anywhere.”

She felt his gaze and wasn’t really sure how long they stayed like that. His hand splayed on her bare thigh and supporting most of his weight, his other hand had nested itself against her hip when he’d leaned forward. He hadn’t moved so much as an inch and so she could feel his hot breath on her cheek, causing her hair to sway slightly with each breath. She tried to tell herself that it didn’t matter how much she liked this position. The idea that there could be something for them.

She shivered slightly as he lifted hand up from her hip, sliding it against her side and causing her shirt to come up the higher it went. Eventually, slightly warm fingers found the bareness of her neck and her shirt slid back down some of the way. She couldn’t bring herself to pull it down the rest of the way nor push his hand away or even move all together. He paused only briefly, gaze still burning a whole in the side of her head as he watched her intently. Then his fingers were grazing their way up the column of her neck before grasping her jaw. It was light but firm, just like everything about him. Subtle but very much there. She admired that about him; most with his history wouldn’t be able to say the same.

Over the week she’d steadily found out just how human he was and right now, he seemed at his most humane. He was leaving himself open for rejection. And she’d already made it seem like that was her goal, yet he wasn’t backing down.

He tugged on her chin, forcing her to face him head on once more. “It can if you want it to.”

And as she looked into his eyes, so intent and believable, she couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe he was right. That it would take a little more effort than most relationships, but they could.

But they couldn’t, not with her so loyal and how demanding her home was of her. Not with him being one of the most wanted criminals. It wouldn’t work, just fall apart and hurt them both in the end.

So swallowing she tried to meet his gaze. “No, I mean this won’t go anywhere because I don’t love you, Itachi.” It hurt to say that, to lie so blatantly when she didn’t want to. And if hurt to say, how much did it hurt to hear?

“You’re lying.”

Why’d he have to make this so damn hard? “No, I’m not.” She wished it were true.

Sable eyes that were almost blue stared at her intently. She never had been able to lie, not really. But never could she lie to him, not because she didn’t want to but because he’d always call her on it. He’d let so many slide, not once demanding the truth. This one though, he wouldn’t. He held on tenaciously.

She knew she shouldn’t want him to, but seeing his eyes so dark and intense, it wouldn’t be long before she broke. He was the master of breaking people; it made sense that someone like her wouldn’t be an exception. She had been, but…

“I don’t love you.” It taken a lot to say it again, but maybe if she said it enough he’d get the point. He’d let it go, let this chance slip away.

But he wasn’t that type of person, she knew that. When Itachi wanted something, he didn’t let it slip away so easily. As he’d shown by kidnapping her.

“You don’t _want_ to love me.”

“What’s the difference?”

“The difference is that you were lying. You love me.”

She growled with frustration. “Itachi, whether that’s true or not, no matter what you say this can’t go anywhere.”

“It can. And it will. But first you have to stop lying.”

It was so hard to contradict him when all she wanted was for him to be right.

“You chose to give me my eyesight back; you chose to be so open with me. You can choose to stay. Everything requires some level of sacrifice. Or are you that unwilling to give anything?”

She bit her lip, hating how much sense he was making. “No. I just, I don’t think I can stand to have my heart broken again.”

Again he was kissing her, but this time he pulled back before she could react. “The only thing putting your heart in danger is your own cautiousness. You trust me, don’t you?”

She’d never really thought about it and was surprised to find herself nodding, “Then try. After all you didn’t know you could fix my vision, but you did.”

“Perhaps this can work, too.” She concluded. Sighing she nodded once more, conceding that he was right.

She didn’t know until she tried.


End file.
